The weekly Floridian. [volume] (Tallahassee, Fla.) 1867-19??, 1887-09-15

A few evenings ago party Of North
western cattleuaen were grouped together
Ia the rotunda of the Merchants Hotel,
when one Of them told this incident, which
has romance enough in it for the FONDA
tion for Q novel:
1t was IN rs or '78, don't remember
which, was in the cattle business in the
Indian Territory, below Medicine Lodge.
l bad shipped drove of cattle to Kansas
City, driving them from the Territory to
Wichita, Kansas, and decided to continue
on the main line of the road to Hutchin-
SON, from which place l would take .
horse and ride down to the Territory.
The distance from Hutchinson to Medi-
cine Lodge was about ninety miles, which
could be reached by hard days ride.
By daylight the next morning was in
the saddle and riding south. The day
had been unusually warm and had been
riding ra, her slowly, with view of push
ing on faster when il had become cooler.
A breeze sprang up from the south and /
gave my horse q tap to urge him on: but
not minding the whip he started in .
different direction than the one which we
had been going. He appeared 70 be un-
C0oy Out bupUOcoCu tutS WAS C6u0Su IIOfu
thirst. The sun had gone down and the
wind was increasing, bringing with it a
faint oder of burning grass. AS it grew
dark l could see Pickering of light at .
distance, but thought nothing oft. 1t
was not long, however, before discover
ed the cause of the horses uneasiness.
Stretching from right to left, apparently
in q semicircle, was q streak of FIRE, and /
at once realized that was in q dangerous
position.
There was no way TO escape except to
turn back, and l was 10th to do that. /
stood still some time undecided what to
do. 1t would be foolish to think of try
ing to break through this sweeping wall
of FIRE. Turning the horses head in the
direction from which we came let him
have the reins. He needed no urging and
covered the ground in fine style. look
ed back, and was dismayed to see that
even as fast as We were going the FIRE was
gaining on us. Giving the horse a sharp
cut with the whip he gave lunge for
ward, but fell, throwing me over his head.
He had stepped into prairie dogs hole
and broken leg. Seeing that he could
60 no further l drew my revolver and
ended his life.
The fire was now less than a mile from
me, coming before terrible wind, the
flames leaping high in the air. By the
light could see small hill a few hun
dred yards away, and my only hope was
to reach that, perhaps finding shelter on
the opposite side. l put forth my best
efforts, but before covering half the dis
tance l could hear the roar of the flames
and feel the heat, while the smoke was
suffocating. Making a terrible effort
kept to my feet for few seconds more and
then consciousness left me.
When l awOke it was morning. and
bending over me was young woman.
Remembering what had passed through,
my first impression was that | was dead
and in-well, where we all want 10 90
there some time. But / soon found out
my mistake, and discovered that / was in
cave dug in the side of hill. In flying
from the fire my last step had brought me
to the door, and, falling, had forced it
open. The young woman was in great
distress, and told me that she feared her
husband had been caught in the prairie
hre. She told me her history very briefly,
saying that she was an orphan, had been
married but a short time and came from
me East with her husband to make q
home. Her husband had left her alone
two days before, having gone to the near
est town, and she had expected him to re-
turn the evening before. Hastily eating
what she had prepared, we started in search
OF the missing man.
The scene was a desolate one, as far rs
the eye could reach being sea Of ashes.
We had gone little over mile when we
found the charred remains of the woman's
husband. 1 left her watching over him
while l hunted up habitation, and Sc
curing assistance we buried him near
where he died. / hired man to take me
to my ranch, where found my partner
had arrived all right. Shortly after l
sold out and came North, but I think
shall not forget that part of the country
soon.
Just as the narrator had ceased speak
ing bright little boy came running up to
him, saying:
Papa, mamma wants to see you"
But what became of the young wom-
an p was asked in unison by the rest of
the party as the gentleman arose.
6 ''Well," said he, with a smile, "she
has just sent our boy after me"-.&. Paul
Globe.